Becoming Independant
by StormyBabe1988
Summary: Harry has had enough with letting other people tell him what to do and leaves Privet Drive early before fourth year. Needing a place to stay for the summer, he goes to Gringott's for money. Surprises abound when he goes to the bank, but with Hermione's help Harry can face anything! Rating in case my foul mouth gets involved. Read & Review please!
1. Chapter 1

Becoming Independent

Harry has had enough with letting other people tell him what to do and leaves Privet Drive early before fourth year. Needing a place to stay for the summer, he goes to Gringott's for money. The Goblin's have found discrepancies in his account and have been owling him about it and are displeased with his lack of response. Harry is thoroughly confused since he's never received a letter from Gringott's, nor has he authorized any withdrawals. Surprises abound and with Hermione's help Harry can face anything! Seeing as how this is fourth year I might turn my one shot "How to Deal With Stupid Judges" into a chapter for this story instead of it being a stand alone. Haven't decided yet though. Review and let me know what you think!

Harry Potter co belong to JKR and I'm just happy to be allowed to play with her imaginary friends! Also, if the HPverse DID belong to me, I would have never put the brightest witch of her age with a loud mouth, jealous garbage disposal! Unabashedly Harmony!

(Don't expect super regular updates either. I have 2 kids, a long distance boyfriend, no internet & money problems, writing is just to help me unwind a bit and hopefully get lost from my life for a little while. That being said, I am enjoying this story so far and hope to get the next chapter out in a couple weeks. ENJOY!)

Chapter 1: Beginning

Harry laid in bed thinking late into the night after being sent back to Durzkaban for the summer. Just a week ago his godfather, Sirius Black, had asked him to live with him, but here he was back with his relatives while poor Sirius was back on the run. The more he thought of it, the angrier it made him. Finally, he came to a decision. Why get angry? He should do something about it instead. Harry quietly rose from his bed and began repacking his trunk. Since he didn't own much and hadn't been back for long, it didn't take him long to finish. When everything but a set of clothes for morning had been packed away, Harry climbed back into bed. He would go in the morning; he would rent a room from Tom at the Leaky Cauldron and put his trunk in it while he went to Gringott's for enough money to find something more stable for the summer and anything else he needed. Satisfied with his plan, Harry drifted off to sleep.

When Harry woke in the morning he rose quietly and made breakfast for his ungrateful relatives. He remained quiet as they sneered at him and complained that his cooking wasn't good enough. He smirked as they all but licked their plates clean though.

When Vernon left for work and Dudley left to hang out with his gang of bullies, Harry and Petunia were alone in the house. He considered asking his aunt why she had kept him when she clearly hated everything about him, but he had spent his entire life being told to not ask questions so he decided not to waste his time.

"I'm going to the store, don't burn the house down." Petunia said as he finished cleaning the dishes. Harry gaped at her as she left. He was flabbergasted. She hated leaving him alone in the house! Not wasting any time, he dragged his trunk and Hedwig's cage down the stairs and outside. He immediately stuck his wand out to hail the Knight Bus. As the bus pulled up he heard a disturbing thump and sincerely hoped it wasn't one of Mrs. Figg's cats, but ultimately decided to ignore it as he handed his fare to Stan and requested to be dropped off at the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry sat attentively on the bus as it sped off, trying to not be thrown from his seat. After several jarring stops and vomit inducing starts to drop several other passengers at their destinations, they arrived in front of the Leaky Cauldron on Charing Cross Road. Harry stepped down from the bus and took a moment to let his stomach settle while pretending to look at the record shop and book shop that sandwiched the wizarding pub.

Finally feeling as though he had full control of his stomach and taking a quick look around to be sure no one was watching, Harry entered the pub and walked to the bar to greet Tom.

"Hey Tom, how's business?" Harry asked with a smile.

"Harry! I was wondering if I'd be seeing you again this summer! I've saved your room for you if you'd like to use it again this year." Tom told him happily.

"Thanks Tom! I don't know yet if I'll be staying the summer, but I would like to leave my trunk here while I go to the bank if that's alright." Harry responded pulling a couple left over galleons from his pocket. Tom waived off the coins and pressed the key into the boy's hand. Harry smiled and headed to room eleven where he'd stayed the previous summer. He smiled around the room as he set his trunk and Hedwig's cage at the foot of the bed.

"Still haven't learned to dress properly have you?" His mirror chided as he walked past it. Harry stopped and looked into the mirror properly, taking in his cousin's baggy cast offs.

"You're right. This is certainly not appropriate for going to the bank." Harry told his mirror before turning and opening his trunk. He pulled out a plain white button down shirt, charcoal grey trousers, charcoal grey socks, and plain black shoes. He left his school tie and robe in his trunk. "Just because I'm wearing my school uniform doesn't mean I have to be obvious about it" he muttered to himself as he found his best black leather belt which was in surprisingly good condition for being a cast off of his cousin's. Apparently the stupid tub of lard had outgrown it and received a new one before he could destroy it. "After I finish at the bank I'll see about a new wardrobe" he promised his mirror.

"Humph! You probably wouldn't even know where to start on getting a new wardrobe. You should find a good female to do it for you instead!" His mirror told him sourly.

"You're probably right about that also. I suppose I could ask Hermione to help, but I don't want to interrupt her time with her parents." Harry replied. "Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask her at least." He added as he opened his trunk again and removed a small roll of parchment, a quill, and a bottle of ink before sitting at the small desk in the room to write his best friend a letter.

Dear Hermione,

I'm in London getting ready to head to the bank to see about my account. I'm borrowing a room from Tom to store my trunk for a short while and the mirror is nagging me about my clothes. I promised to see about a wardrobe but it told me I would probably be better off asking a girl to do it for me. In all honesty it's probably right; I don't know the first thing about shopping thanks to my relatives. Would you please help me? I would be eternally grateful, but if you'd rather be spending the time with your family I understand. Hedwig will wait for your reply.

Your grateful friend,

Harry Potter

"Take this to Hermione please, and wait for her reply." Harry asked Hedwig as he tied the note to her leg and opened the window to let her out. He watched his owl fly off and decided to grab some lunch in the bar while he waited for a reply from his best friend.

"Still here Harry? I thought maybe you had snuck past me a while ago." Tom asked when Harry came down the stairs and paused at the bar.

"The mirror in my room gave me a couple of good suggestions so I wrote to a friend asking for help and I figured I'd have some lunch while I waited on her reply." Harry explained.

"Very good then. Go find a table and I'll bring you the best we've got today." Tom told him with a toothless grin before handing him a large glass of exploding lemonade.

Harry found a table in a corner and took a drink from his mug. He nearly did a spit take when he saw his bushy haired friend walk into the bar with Hedwig on her Shoulder. "Make that lunch for two Tom!" Harry called as he waived Hermione to the seat across from him. "How did you get here so quickly?" Harry asked her.

"I was just getting off the Knight Bus outside when Hedwig found me. I took a minute to catch my breath and read your letter before coming in. My parents are at work so I decided to come browse through Flourish and Blotts'. Of course I'll help you; I'm surprised you even thought I would refuse." Hermione said smiling at her best friend.

"Well then right after we eat we'll head over to Gringott's and get some money; you can decide from there what's best." Harry told her as Tom delivered their lunches and lemonade for Hermione.

"Err... These don't actually explode do they Harry?" Hermione asked quietly after Tom walked away. She was eyeing the lemonade suspiciously.

"Nah, I asked the same thing last summer, but it's just that the flavor explodes in your mouth. This is one of my favorite drinks in the wizarding world actually."

The two friends passed the rest of lunch chatting away about inconsequential things before heading out the back. Harry stopped at the bar and gave Tom a hard look, "Now Tom, I want to see both of those lunches on my tab when I come back later. You know I won't hear of you not taking my money." Harry told the proprietor sternly. Tom gave him a small frown before nodding and shooing them out the bar.

Hermione pulled her wand as they neared the dustbin and tapped the brick three up and two across before stepping back and watching the archway form in the previously blank wall. "I love magic!" she sighed before grabbing Harry's hand and walking with him down the street to Gringott's Wizarding Bank. They walked up the stairs, passed through the bronze doors and then the silver before entering the marble hall and stepping into line to wait for a teller.

"Mr. Potter! It is about time you responded to our summons! We have been attempting to communicate with you since your last visit to our bank!" The goblin teller snarled at Harry when he and Hermione reached the front of the line.

"Please pardon me sir; I fear you have me at a disadvantage. I have never received any correspondence from the noble goblins of Gringott's" Harry responded with a small bow.

"Nonsense! We have sent you monthly statements as per our policy and several requests to present yourself at the bank to discuss discrepancies… You're telling me you have _never_ received a single owl from Gringott's?"

"I apologize for my ignorance. I have not at any time I can remember ever received even a single owl from Gringott's. I would of course have presented myself much earlier than today had I known there was an irregularity with my account." Harry replied politely to the goblin's outburst.

"Follow me!" The goblin snarled as he placed a closed sign on his desk and stepped around to lead Harry. He stopped as he spotted Hermione following Harry "Is this person someone who you trust to hear about your accounts?" he asked.

"I trust Hermione with everything," was Harry's response. The goblin just nodded before again leading them down a hall that had only moments ago been hidden from view by the tall teller desks.

"Wait here." The goblin said before knocking on an elaborately decorated golden door. They heard a response from the other side and their guide stuck his head in the door and said something in rapid gobbledegook. At the response from the goblin inside, their guide opened the door wider and ushered the teens into it. Entering, they found a large office. On the walls around the office were floor to ceiling bookshelves containing countless leather bound tomes, and many deadly looking weapons. Front and center was an enormous oak desk, decorated with carved scenes of goblins going about different jobs. Seated at the desk was the largest goblin either teen had ever seen.

"Summon the account manager to my office and then go back to your station teller." The goblin at the desk ordered. The teller bowed and backed out of the office. Just as he reached for the door, the large goblin added "and never let me hear of you reprimanding a client in the hall or you will be reassigned to cleanup in the vault tunnels." The smaller goblin's green complexion paled considerably and he hurried from the office to complete his assignment. When the door had closed behind the teller, the goblin at the desk spoke again "you may sit; I will be with you when the Potter accounts manager arrives."

"Would it be all right if I looked at your books, sir?" Hermione asked quietly.

"If you can read goblin then you are welcome to browse the books on the shelf closest to the door." The goblin told her looking up at the teens for the first time.

"Do you have a book that teaches goblin?" Hermione asked hopefully.

The large goblin laughed. "You must be Miss Granger. One of our human employees has told us you are almost always with Mr. Potter and have a love of learning. "Mr. Weasley is one of the few wand bearers we tolerate on a more than simply professional level. He has passed on many things told to him by his youngest siblings." The goblin answered their questioning looks. He reached into a drawer on his desk and withdrew a small leather book. "This is a book of customs and simple phrases, when you have finished it please return it and I shall lend you a more in depth study of our language. You will simply need to show the book to a guard at the silver doors and someone will bring you to my office."

"Thank you very much sir! I will take care of it I promise!" Hermione gushed as she took the book he handed her.

"Sir, if we are waiting on my account manager then who are you?" Harry asked as Hermione sat and opened the book.

"I am Ragnok, director of Gringott's bank, chosen by the king of our great nation to ensure the bank is running smoothly and relations with the wand bearers do not lead us to another war."

As Harry was about to ask another question they heard a sharp knock on the golden door and upon Ragnok's order to enter the door opened showing another goblin who immediately bowed to the director before approaching the desk with a large brief case. Ragnok barked an order at him in gobbledegook and the goblin immediately placed his case on the desk and began removing files from it. Once he had everything in order he spoke quietly in gobbledegook to Ragnok, pointing to different things in the files. After about a quarter of an hour he had brought the director up to speed on everything of importance in the files and both goblins turned to the teens.

"Mr. Potter, this is your accounts manager Sharptongue. In these files are copies of your account statements from every month since the unfortunate deaths of your parents, Halloween 1981. Up until your eleventh birthday nothing seems out of order, the businesses were run as usual and a monthly withdrawal for your care as expected-"

"WHAT!" Hermione cut him off, looking up from her book for the first time since Ragnok had handed it to her. "You mean his relatives were paid for his upkeep every month for all these years and they still treated him like garbage?!" She yelled.

"Of course his guardians were paid Miss Granger. That is customary in cases like this. Mr. Potter's relatives have received approximately six hundred British sterling every month since November first 1981 when he was left with them." Ragnok responded confused by the outburst.

"They used to complain about the expense of raising me. They said I was taking food from their precious Dudley's mouth by being there." Harry whispered. "All this time they were getting money for keeping me? I never got a birthday or Christmas present from them, I only got Dudley's cast off clothes when he ruined or out grew them! ALL THIS TIME THEY WERE GETTING MONEY FROM MY VAULTS FOR ME?!" Harry was shouting by now and things had begun to fall from the shelves in Ragnok's office. "I slept in the cupboard under the stairs until my first Hogwarts letter arrived! I didn't know my own name until I began primary school! When they asked me my birthday in class I was confused because I was told freaks don't have birthdays!" By this point Harry was crying into Hermione's neck as she held him and the others in the room had to strain to understand him through the sobs and hiccups caused by his crying.

Account manager Sharptongue looked aghast and Ragnok looked enraged, neither of these were any match for Hermione however as she combined both looks with a homicidal glint in her eye that promised retribution on those who had mistreated her Harry. She may have had all the intelligence of the best Ravenclaws, but there was a reason the hat sorted her into the house of lions.

"This is very troubling news Mr. Potter. We had been informed that you were well cared for and that the higher than normal care expense was due to your relatives hiring you tutors to prepare you for your lordship." Ragnok informed the boy.

"Director, the only schooling I had before Hogwarts was regular muggle primary school. If they ever spent a dime on me that wasn't required by law I'd be surprised." Harry told Ragnok once he'd gained control of his emotions. "I wasn't even aware there was a lordship to worry about."

"This is very troubling indeed Mr. Potter. However, let us continue for the moment and come back to your relatives later." Ragnok suggested. Harry nodded and Ragnok continued to brief him on the discrepancies Sharptongue had found. "After your eleventh birthday, we began receiving requests from your magical guardian for money from your vault to be sent to the school. Now, while this in itself isn't an entirely unusual occurrence, the amounts are considerably more than normal. Could you perhaps tell us, on what you have been spending two thousand galleons per year?"

"I have never received six thousand galleons sir. I'd like to know where it ended up though. I've only ever taken what I needed for school, maybe a few treats here and there like on the train, Christmas presents for friends & last year when I stayed at the cauldron. I don't think all of that together cost me six thousand galleons!" Harry exclaimed utterly bewildered by everything he was hearing today.

"Next we have the marriage contract written up by your magical guardian that you have yet to sign." Ragnok informed him hoping this was actually something the boy was informed of; he was not to get his wish however as the young heir began yelling almost immediately.

"LIKE HELL AM I GOING TO HAV AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE! IT'S BARBARIC! ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Harry's face had turned a shade of red to make his friend Ron proud.

"So you did not know of the contract between you and the youngest Weasley?" Ragnok sighed; this was really not a good day.

"Ginny? I barely know her. She seems alright but we've never really talked, why would I want to marry her?" Harry asked looking shocked.

"Very well, we shall remove that contract from the files." As he said this he pulled the contract in question from the file and set fire to it. Elsewhere, copies of the contract quietly turned to ash as the original burned.

"Finally, your magical guardian has tried to sell off various Potter family heirlooms, businesses, and properties in the last months. Unfortunately for him, he does not have the authorization to do so without you coming in personally to sign the deeds. Did you wish to sell anything Mr. Potter?"

"I didn't even know I had anything to sell, I think I'd much rather see what I've got before someone I don't even know tries selling it all off!" Harry exclaimed surprised.

"What do you mean someone you don't know? Mr. Potter, do you not know who your magical guardian is?" Sharptongue finally spoke up, earning himself a glare from Ragnok for speaking out of turn. In goblin society the highest ranking in the meeting had the authority and the lesser was there in a strictly administrative position.

"No, I don't. I know it should have been Sirius as he is my godfather, but since he was wrongly imprisoned he couldn't." Harry said.

"Mr. Potter, Albus Dumbledore as headmaster is the magical guardian of all muggle-born and orphans who have not otherwise had a magical guardian named." Ragnok explained, causing both teens to exclaim.

"WHAT?!" Dumbledore is the one doing these things to me?"

"How could he? He's supposed to take care of the students!"

"I trusted him!"

The two teens looked at each other for a moment, seemingly communicating silently, before they both faced Ragnok and said "How can we put a stop to this?"

"On your thirteenth birthday you were legally able to take on Head of House status as the sole living heir of House Potter. Legally you would be emancipated and only you would be able to make any decisions on your accounts or familial matters. Miss Granger here would still be under the guardianship of the Headmaster unless her parents appoint another guardian or become vassals of a magical family, or if she were to become betrothed." Ragnok informed them.

"Reckon he'd use you to get to me?" Harry asked Hermione. After thinking about it for a moment she nodded. "What should we do about it then?"

"I don't know. My parents aren't really aware of much that goes on in our world. I've been afraid they would try to withdraw me from school if they heard about the things we've gotten up to at school so I don't tell them most of it." Hermione answered as she thought about the situation.

"Fortunately for you Miss Granger, they can choose to appoint another magical guardian for you; however they cannot remove you from the magical world without your magical guardian's permission. You may tell them anything you wish, they can do nothing about it. However, if you are concerned with the manipulations of the headmaster I would recommend that you have them change your guardian before you tell them anything." Ragnok advised.

"How do I take up the lordship then?" Harry asked while his friend thought through her family problems.

"I would recommend an inheritance test to be certain you get the most out of your status, never know what inheritances might have passed through your mother's line during the years they went without magic." Ragnok suggested before adding, "After that we can get to the rings and such."

"You mean Harry's mother may have had magical ancestors?" Hermione asked shocked by the implications.

"Certainly. Muggle-born is a misleading name, however since most muggle-born wizards rarely have an inheritance test done, most wizards have no idea that the lines just go dormant for a time rather than dying out as they believe." Ragnok told the young witch.

"May I have an inheritance test done?" Hermione asked shyly.

"For one with such a thirst for knowledge as yourself, I am almost inclined to waive the fee just to see who you may be descended from!" Ragnok laughed.

"I would be willing to pay for Hermione to have the test done." Harry volunteered before grinning at Hermione "We could do it together." He whispered shyly.

"Very well. Sharptongue, fetch the supplies for Mr. Potter and Miss Granger to do their inheritance tests!" Ragnok ordered. Sharptongue hurried from the room to do as instructed. Harry and Hermione grinned at each other in anticipation.

They only had to wait a few minutes as Sharptongue came back with the requested materials quickly. In front of each teen he laid a roll of parchment, a large vial with a swirling blue-black liquid, a ritual knife, and a small bandage kit. "What you need to do is make a cut across the palm of your hand and add ten drops of blood to the vial, then put the cork back into the vial and we will shake them to make sure the blood is fully mixed with the potion while you wrap your hands." Sharptongue explained as he set up the materials

"Why do we need to wrap our hands? Don't you have any healing spells?" Hermione asked confused.

"Miss Granger, goblins are a warrior race, we do not use magic to small cuts. Our wounds are only healed when they are life threatening and we have won our battle over our enemy. Once our enemy lies dead at our feet we send for healers before we celebrate our victory with our clan. If you want your hand healed when we have finished here I would suggest you find a wand bearer to do it." Ragnok answered calmly. He would forgive the witch this small slight as she was young, had she been grown she would have been turned away without the test or the fee would have doubled.

"Forgive me director, I meant no disrespect. I hope in time I will learn more of your ways and keep myself from further insulting the goblin nation." Hermione responded seriously. Oh yes, she would learn, and she would teach Harry to keep him from embarrassing himself as well.

Harry and Hermione each reached out and uncorked their vials before taking the dagger in their right hands and making a small cut across their left palms. Allowing the blood to pool momentarily, they squeezed their fists and let the ten drops fall into the vials before corking them. As the two goblins began shaking the vials and making sure the mixtures had finished, Hermione turned to Harry and bandaged his hand before letting him do the same to hers. Ragnok and Sharptongue unrolled the parchments and slowly poured out the contents of the vials onto the rolls. Harry and Hermione leaned of to watch what happened

On Harry's parchment he watched as the potion began forming words. Near the end of the parchment his name filled in, and then lines linking him to his parents, then grandparents. It went on, seemingly endlessly for several minutes. The names were quite small to fit on the page and Harry had trouble reading them as they got further away from him, but in the blank space to the left of his name more words filled in:

Titles passed on paternally

Potter

Peverell

On the right of his name were now the words:

Titles passed on maternally

Gryffindor

Beneath his name now said:

By Right of Conquest

Slytherin

Gaunt

Harry stared open mouthed at the scroll. He was Head of FIVE FAMILIES! The word maternally stuck out to him for a moment before he whispered "My mother really was a Gryffindor!" He glanced over at Hermione who was staring open mouthed at her own scroll.

Hermione's thoughts were going a thousand miles a minute, she was a Lady! No one could call her mudblood now, she had more magical heritage than nearly all of them! Her parchment scroll had filled in on the left with the words:

Titles passed on paternally

None

On the right it said:

Titles passed on maternally

Ravenclaw

"Harry, I'm a Ravenclaw! Can you believe it? I'm not a muggle born! The Ravenclaw line didn't die out it just went dormant!" Hermione squealed excitedly.

"So did the Gryffindor line Hermione!" Harry said smiling widely.

"Did you get it on your dad's side then?" Hermione asked curiously as she leaned over to try to see his scroll.

"Nope, I got it from mum's side!" Harry told her.

"Oh my goodness Harry! Do you know what this means?" Hermione asked jumping from her chair in her excitement.

"Umm… No Hermione, what does it mean?" Harry asked bemused.

"According to Hogwarts a History, if we had even one more heir of the founders with us we could kick out the Board of Governors and make decisions for Hogwarts!"

"So if one of us had for example taken on the Slytherin title by right of conquest then you and I would basically run the school?" Harry asked with a mischievous half grin.

"Well I suppose, but it would probably be easier to find the heir of Hufflepuff than… wait a minute, are you telling me you got the Slytherin title too?" Hermione asked.

"According to this, yes. You and I own three quarters of the school!" Harry grinned at her.

"Not quite yet, you have to take up your headships first. Also, it is said that Hogwarts herself must accept the heirs before the Board of Governors can be dismissed." Ragnok spoke up.

"So how do we take up our headships? Does this mean I can be my own magical guardian like Harry is? Are there vaults for the founders?" Hermione was so caught up in her questions she didn't notice the goblins trying to answer them.

Harry reached over and laid a hand on his best friend's arm "Hermione, slow down and let them answer." He chided her gently.

Ragnok chuckled at the young witch's enthusiasm. "To take up your headships you must hold out your wand and call the names of the families you are head of. The family rings will appear as you announce them. Once they have appeared you will place the rings, one at a time, on your finger. If the family magic accepts you then you are the head of the family, if not then the headship will go to the next in line. If the family magic does not accept you and there is no one to take the headship, the family line will die out."

Harry nodded at Hermione that she should go first. Raising her wand, Hermione called out "Ravenclaw!" In front of her an old ring box and a tiara appeared. Hermione's eyes strayed to the tiara and she slowly began to reach out for it.

Ragnok hissed and slammed a metal box over the tiara. "Do not touch that! It is Rowena Ravenclaw's lost diadem and someone has corrupted it with dark soul magic!"

Hermione slowly shook her head as if to clear her mind and after frowning at the box hiding the diadem, she reached out for the small ring box. As she picked up the box, some of the velvet covering it began to crumble. The hinges creaked and snapped as she tried to gently open the box and in her surprise, she dropped the ring box and it broke into many small pieces, some crumbling. Nervously, she picked up the ring and studied it for a moment. It was a small, feminine ring. Cast from bronze, it had the Ravenclaw crest beneath a clear blue sapphire; around the stone were the famous words of Ravenclaw: 'Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure'.

Slowly, Hermione slid the ring onto her finger. Once the ring was completely on her finger, Hermione felt a foreign magic swirl around her. It filtered through her memories, looked into her heart and tested her resolve. When the magic found what it was looking for it pulsed brightly and then seeped into her skin, becoming one with her own magic.

"Congratulations Lady Ravenclaw! We will put together account statements and send them by owl to you in seven to ten days." Ragnok informed Hermione as she stared at the ring on her finger.

"Thank you." Hermione whispered to Ragnok. She sat there for another moment before shaking herself slightly and turning to Harry. "Your turn Harry."

Harry held his wand out and called: "Potter! Peverell! Gryffindor! Slytherin! Gaunt!" With each name a ring box appeared in front of him. When the Gaunt ring appeared both goblins hissed before Sharptongue slammed another box over it.

"This ring has the same taint as the diadem. We will have our best curse breakers destroy the soul magic within them both and then we will owl you that you may return to collect them. For now, please continue with the other four" Ragnok explained.

Harry nodded grimly before reaching for the Potter ring. He repeated the same process Hermione had gone through with the Potter, Peverell and Gryffindor rings. As each one accepted him they melded together showing the most recent one. As he placed the Slytherin ring on his finger something different happened, it spoke to him! "Well, well, what have we here? A sspeaker? How interesting… Let us see if you are worthy then." With that the magic seemed to slither over him instead of swirling like the others. "You have potential sspeaker; we will grant you the Slytherin headship" it hissed at him before sinking coolly into his skin and melding with the others in his core.

"Congratulations Lord Potter! We shall put together account statements and send them by owl to you in seven to ten days as well. And as soon as the Gaunt ring and Ravenclaw diadem are cleansed we shall owl you to pick them up." Ragnok informed Harry. "As it is getting late we shall provide you with a purse instead of taking you down to your vaults, and the amount shall be withdrawn first thing in the morning. Is there anything else I can do for you before you go?"

"Could you give Hermione a purse like mine also? You can take it from my vault in the morning too." Harry asked the goblin. Seeing the look on his best friend's face he quickly added "Just until you find out the status of the Ravenclaw account Hermione. So you can your books and whatever else you want when we go get me new clothes."

Hermione frowned at her friend for a moment before nodding in agreement. "But I am paying you back Harry Potter!" She informed him sternly. "Can we get an equal amount in muggle money please? I'm going to make sure Harry can pass for respectable in both worlds." SH asked turning back to the goblins.

"Of course Lady Ravenclaw. Good luck on your venture." Ragnok chuckled as Sharptongue scurried out to get the requested currency. "Also, you should know that your rings can be made invisible as you wish and Lord Potter can simply request which one he wants to show and it will appear. Also, an imprint of your rings can be used as proof of payment in the wizarding world and if you wish to come back and fill out the forms at a later date we can present you with what the muggles call a 'credit card'. We at Gringott's offer both Visa and Master Card brands as they are accepted nearly anywhere you wish to use them."

"Thank you Director! May your gold flow like a river and your enemies fall before you." Hermione told him as she had just come to customary greetings and farewells in the book he had loaned her.

"Very well done! And to you Lady Ravenclaw, may your gold never run out and may your enemies cower in terror at your name." Ragnok smiled at the witch and ushered them both from his office where Sharptongue met them with their money purses and led them to the entrance to Diagon Alley with a small bow that both teens returned before stepping out of the bank.

The sun was setting as they entered the Leaky Cauldron and after promising to meet him the next morning after her parents went to work for breakfast and shopping, Hermione hurried out to the muggle world and summoned the Knight Bus. Harry hugged her as she stepped on the bus and then made his way back into the pub for some dinner. He paid Tom for his room for the next ten days and the meals he had already eaten before heading to room number eleven. His mirror chided him on not returning with any shopping bags and he told it he had spent the entire day at the bank becoming a lord so he didn't have the time to go shopping. After promising the mirror that becoming presentable was the plan for first thing the next morning, he decided to turn in early and quickly fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Note to my lovely readers: I can't believe how many reviews and followers I got on the first chapter! I'm so glad I shared it; you've all made me want to keep going! Most of you just said you liked it and you were looking forward to the next chapter, and that's great, I wasn't even expecting that much! A couple people left much longer reviews and I loved them, they were very well thought out and asked lots of questions and one had some very constructive criticism which I enjoyed reading. It was mostly irrelevant because the issues she had are part of my story and will play out later, but I really loved reading it anyway. There was one however… It said: "What a train wreck of naïve characterization and crappy clichés". It was a guest review. All I can say to this person is I'm sorry you didn't like it, go find another story to read. This was my first truly negative review and the only reason it upsets me is that they didn't bother with signing it. I'm sorry, but most of the stories I've read are seriously clichéd, have overdone themes, and you know what? I like them anyways. Nearly all of them need someone to proof read for spelling and grammar errors, but who cares? This is fanfiction! I'm not trying to make money off of this; I'm entertaining myself, my boyfriend, and hopefully a few of you as well. Anyone who has a problem with that needs to look elsewhere for entertainment. Thank you and happy reading!

PS: I am American; I will mess up on British terms and slang. I do apologize, but my characters will probably seem American often. I will try to keep them as they should be, so please don't flame me too badly when I slip up. I look things up as often as I can, but I can't catch everything, especially if I don't know it's wrong to begin with. Also, it has been a while since high school English class and I've been around military people a lot since then. Anyone who wants to help me take the grammar errors and Americanisms out of my writing please feel free to message me with anything you catch. Grammar errors in dialogue are mostly intentional.

Chapter 2

Brand New Wizard

Harry woke early the next morning and looked at his watch. He sighed deeply. Hermione wouldn't be there for at least another hour yet as her parents wouldn't leave for work until then. He decided to take his time getting ready, no need to rush after all. Harry smiled as he thought, this would be the second summer in a row that he didn't have to cook for his ungrateful family or do any of the other chores. Hell, now that he was emancipated he would never have to do those things for his hateful family ever again! Grinning like a fool, Harry got out of bed and headed to the shower to begin getting ready for his day.

Harry finished his shower and stepped into his room with a towel wrapped around his waist and dug through his trunk for another school uniform to wear. He couldn't wait to get new clothes so he quit looking like a wanker walking around in Dudley's cast offs or his school uniform. As he got dressed he began considering some of the styles he had seen on some of his peers. What did he like though?

Thirty minutes later he was still considering the different fashions and such as he slowly walked down the stairs. He sat at his regular table and Tom brought him a cup of tea. Such was his distraction that he didn't even notice when Hermione sat across from him and ordered breakfast for the both of them. When Tom left their plates and Harry still hadn't spoken, Hermione finally spoke up.

"Knut for your thoughts Harry?"

Harry had just reached for his tea on auto pilot and started when Hermione spoke, causing his now cold tea to slosh all over him. Luckily, Tom was just bringing over fresh cups for the both of them and he flicked his wand at Harry causing all the tea he was wearing to return to the cup before handing him the new cup and taking the cold one to the kitchen.

"I didn't mean to startle you Harry. What's go you so distracted this morning?" Hermione asked as she added a bit of honey to her tea.

"Hermione… What do I like? I got to thinking this morning about the shopping and realized, I've never had anything bought just for me so I dinno what I like. I've never had to worry about it before." Harry told her shyly.

Hermione blinked back tears at the life her friend had led until now, and then she reached across the table and took his hand. "Well Harry, I guess we'll just have you try on a few different things until you decide what you like best." She told him with a smile. "Now eat your breakfast, we've got a lot of work to do if we're going to find what you like and get you all kitted out. Also, I was wondering, how do you feel about a haircut?"

Harry shifted nervously, he had had a bad experience with a haircut before and wasn't too keen on the idea. "Err… Why d'you ask?"

"Oh honestly Harry, I'm not talking about shaving your head, just try a new style and see how you like it. You are a lord now after all; you'll want to present the right image." Hermione told him, privately thinking that it might help his confidence to look a bit better (and maybe even get her father to quit nagging her about her ragamuffin friend) if he cleaned up a bit.

"Alright Hermione, we can look at some styles, but if I don't see anything I like I'm not doing it." Harry told her firmly before biting into a sausage rather aggressively. Hermione just nodded and went back to her own breakfast. As she ate she discreetly pulled out her wand and transfigured a napkin into a piece of paper and a knife into a fountain pen.

"Hermione! What are you doing? You're going to get in trouble!" Harry hissed at his friend, glancing around nervously.

"No I'm not. Didn't you hear Ragnok yesterday? We are emancipated in the wizarding world. Most people won't know it yet so we could keep it quiet for now, but the records are updated automatically, I won't be getting an owl for underage magic." Hermione told him quietly as she wrote. She passed the paper to Harry and asked him what he thought.

Harry took the paper and found a list written in Hermione's tidy writing.

Muggle wardrobe

Wizard wardrobe

Optometrist

Find a suitable hairstyle for Harry

Bookstore

Harry held out his hand and Hermione handed him the pen. Writing quickly at the bottom of Hermione's list, he passed it back to her. Glancing at the page, she now found:

Find a hairstyle for Hermione too.

"You don't like my hair, Harry?" Hermione asked quietly.

"I don't have a problem with your hair Hermione, you do. I know you hate your hair and your front teeth, I can't really do anything about your teeth, but we can find you a new hairstyle that you're happy with. Besides, the Lady Ravenclaw should be proud and confident in herself." Harry answered honestly.

"Ok Harry, you're right. We'll look for a hairstyle for me too… And maybe see if there's anything that can keep it from looking so dratted bushy too. Now finish your breakfast so we can get started. This is going to be a long day."

"I would like to suggest we do hair and optometrist first. They seem like they might be quicker than picking out two whole wardrobes." Harry suggested.

"Actually, the wizarding wardrobe would be quicker. All we have to do is have you measured and pick a few styles and fabrics, Madame Malkin will see to the rest. After that, I quite agree; optometrist, hairstyles, and then muggle wardrobe."

"Alright, I'm ready when you are." Harry told her.

"On to Madame Malkin's then!" Hermione giggled. Harry nodded and threw a few coins on the table for Tom as he stood. They left the pub out the back door and entered Diagon Alley. As they walked Harry looked around at the other shops. How had he spent an entire summer here and never noticed some of these shops? Harry made a mental note to check out a couple of the shops when they left Madame Malkin's, Madame Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions might have what Hermione needed after all.

They entered Madame Malkin's and began looking around. It didn't take long for Madame Malkin herself to spot who had entered her shop and come over to help. "Bit early for school robes isn't it dears? How can I help you today?" She asked.

"Actually Madame, I need an entire wardrobe. All I really have for wizarding clothes is my school uniforms." Harry told her quietly.

"Madame Malkin, we don't want this to get out just yet, but we need a wizarding wardrobe suitable for the Lord Potter with some casual wear thrown in for comfort." Hermione told her in a whisper.

"Oh dear... Well I can help you with casual and school uniforms, I even have a few nice dress robes, but if you're looking for a Lord's wardrobe you need Twilfitt and Tattings…" Madame Malkin told them sadly.

"We're really trying to keep our statuses quiet Madame Malkin. Hermione and I did an inheritance test at the bank yesterday and she'll need a wardrobe for a Lady as well." Harry told her quietly.

"Harry dear, how many times do I have to ask you to call me Maddy?" Madame Malkin asked with a smile. "Come with me, I have something in the back that may help."

As Harry and Hermione followed her to the back room of her shop, Hermione whispered out of the corner of her mouth "Maddy?"

"Yes. Her name is Madeline. I used to stop in and talk to her last summer when I was wandering around the Alley. She's really nice." Harry told her.

"Here we are dears, come have a seat and let us discuss what you need." Maddy gestured to a couple of chairs as she sat at a small round table. "Now, may I ask what House you became Lady of miss?" She asked Hermione as they sat down.

"Hermione is Lady Ravenclaw, Maddy." Harry answered when it looked like Hermione wasn't going to. When Hermione shot him a look he put his hands up in defense and told her "You can trust her. I was in here most of last summer and you didn't see anything in the Prophet then did you?"

"Don't worry; your secret is safe with me." Maddy told her as she pulled a large book out of a drawer next to her. "Now then, what most people don't know is that Twilfitt's and I share business quite often. You are not the first two to come in here needing a new wardrobe like this, although it has been a while since the school quit advertising the inheritance tests to Muggle-borns."

"Why did they do that? With all the families that got wiped out in the war you would think that maybe they would want to find lesser branches at least." Hermione asked.

"Well, I'm not sure why actually. They haven't advertised the tests since Albus Dumbledore became Headmaster." Maddy told her. "Anyway, Twilfitt's thinks casual clothes are beneath them so anytime someone asks them for casual clothes they send me the order for a commission and I do the same when people ask me for something fancier than my usual dress robes. I want you both to look through this catalogue and tell me what you like; I'll measure you and send the order along and they'll never even know who the order was for."

"That's great! And you don't lose any money that way right?" Harry asked.

"No I don't. They give me a nice commission check for orders like this. Go ahead and give it a look through, the section for young Ladies and Lords is in the back and that catalogue hasn't even been owled out yet so you'll be slightly ahead this season." Maddy told them with a wink and left them to look through the book.

Hermione immediately flipped to the back and began skimming through the age appropriate styles for the both of them. Harry looked over her shoulder and pointed out a few things he thought he might like. By the time Maddy had returned with her measuring tape, Hermione had a list of the styles, colors, and fabrics they each liked ready for her. Maddy conjured a screen and had them take turns stepping behind the screen and stripping to their undergarments for the best measurements. Once they were done she led them out front again where they thanked her profusely and left.

Hermione began leading the way back to the pub but Harry steered her away from it saying "There's somewhere I thought we should look first before we head out to the muggle world." Hermione looked at him curiously but nodded and followed him. As they stopped outside Madame Primpernelle's Beautifying Potions Hermione looked down sadly.

"Come on, they might have something that will help my hair!" Harry told her pretending to not notice the sad look she had. "You know it looks like I never comb it, but I really do, and you're right, I should try to look the part of a lord… Or maybe I'll go nuts and spike my hair instead" Harry said laughing as he opened the door for her.

"Spike your hair? And here I thought you hated attention. You would definitely get some looks in the wizarding world with spiked hair." Hermione told him smirking.

"Well, let's go look around and see what they have then." Harry said.

"Hello, can I help you find anything?" A girl of about twenty asked as she came in from the back room with a stack of boxes.

"We're just looking around. I'm thinking I could maybe use something to help my hair behave a little better." Harry told her.

"Well, you've come to the right place. We have potions to tame your hair, like Sleekeazy's; we have Wizard's Sculpting Gel, we have another potion that turns unmanageable manes into soft silky curls. What did you have in mind?" The clerk informed him.

"Well I think sculpting gel sounds good for me…" Harry told her. She led him to a stand with gels of different levels and in many different scents.

"Now, if you just want your hair to lie down and behave, I'd recommend only going to about a level two. If you want to imitate some of the muggle styles, levels three to five will hold it depending on your hair." She told him.

"Well I think I'd just like it to lie down neatly instead of always looking like I just got off my broom." Harry told her uncertainly.

"Well your hair is pretty thick, so I would recommend a level two. Got any preference on scent? We have Vanilla, Summer Day, Midnight Flight, Sandalwood, Pumpkin, and a few others."

"Err… could I smell them and decide?" Harry asked.

"Of course, we have a few testers here. What would you like to try?" The girl asked pulling out a tray of testers from a drawer under the shelf.

"How about Summer Day and Midnight Flight?" Harry asked. She popped the lid off of Summer Day first and let him smell it. Taking a deep breath in, Harry smelled fresh cut grass, warm breezes off the lake, wildflowers, and sunshine. He handed it to Hermione who was holding her hand out before taking the Midnight Flight. Hermione passed Summer Day back to the clerk as Harry smelled Midnight Flight. It smelled like a midnight chill, fresh air, mysterious woods, dew on the grass, with just a hint of danger. Harry passed this one to Hermione with a grin and as she smelled it she knew why, this one was just so Harry. She nodded and Harry smiled even more.

"I'll take this one please." Harry told the girl.

"Great. Now all you gotta do is rub a bit between your hands till it warms up a bit, then work it through your hair. Give it a minute or two and then comb your hair the way you want it to go. So how about your girlfriend here, anything you'd like today?" She asked looking at Hermione's bushy hair.

"What's that Sleekeazy's potion you were talking about earlier?" Hermione asked trying hard to not be offended by the girl's tone.

"Sleekeazy's will make your hair straight, sleek, shiny and easy to manage. It comes in different levels also, for you I'd suggest a five; otherwise you'll need a whole bottle of the stuff for one evening. However, looking at you I'd recommend Carrie's Curl Potion. It'll take the frizz out of your hair and leave soft, shiny curls like mine." She flipped her hair around and Hermione saw that she had some perfectly gorgeous ringlets.

"Do use the potion then?" Hermione asked her.

"Well of course, I invented it. I'm Carrie, Ravenclaw class of '91. Spent most of my last year at Hogwart's trying to get it right, and still had to tweak it some before my aunt would consider putting it on the shelf. It's not a big seller yet because I'm a nobody as far as most people are concerned, never mind that my aunt has been the best beauty specialist in wizarding Britain for decades. I guarantee it works though."

"Ok. Well then, I'll take a bottle of your Curl Potion and a bottle of Sleekeazy's. I'll try them both over the summer and if I like them I'll get more before heading back to school." Hermione promised.

"Great! Sleekeazy's is unscented, and like I said before, you need a level five, so no real need to choose their. Now let me see your hair…" Carrie turned Hermione around and began inspecting her hair. "Hmm… lots of natural curl here, and I'll bet the more humid it is the bushier this gets… I have just the thing for you!" Carrie ran off and came back with a large spray bottle. "Anti-humidity, frizz control and curl booster for thick, unmanageable locks! Just spray it in slightly damp or dry hair from roots to ends, comb through with a wide tooth comb and let it sit a minute."

"Thank you." Hermione said as she took the bottle and a bottle of Sleekeazy's.

"No problem, anything else for you two?" Carrie asked as she rang them up.

"No thanks. But if we change our minds we'll let you know." Harry said taking his bag. Harry led a smiling Hermione through the Leaky Cauldron and out into the muggle world where she quickly flagged down a taxi and directed the driver to go to the nearest Optometrist. As it turned out, the nearest one was also conveniently owned by a family friend. He got his dental work from her parents and they saw him for their annual eye checkups.

"Dr. Sampson, this is my friend Harry. He is in dire need of an eye exam and new glasses." Hermione introduced Harry to the doctor.

"Now Hermione, you know I can't do eye exams on children without parental consent." Dr. Sampson told her sternly.

"Oh right, of course. You see, Harry was recently emancipated due to his guardian's treatment of him, I have the paperwork here somewhere" Hermione said and she turned her back and made a show of rummaging in her purse. She pulled out her wand and transfigured a Kleenex into a sheet of paper before casting a light Confundus charm on it and handed it to Dr. Sampson.

He took the paper and studied it for a moment before frowning, he nodded and handed Hermione the paper back. "Very well, follow me. I've already eaten so I can squeeze you in on my lunch break." He led them into an exam room and handed Harry a clip board. "Just fill these out and we'll get started."

Harry looked over the clipboard and began filling in what he knew, which unfortunately wasn't much. He handed it back to the doctor and looked away from the scrutinizing look he was being given at having filled in the information so quickly.

"Dr. Sampson, Harry is an orphan; he doesn't know much of his family's medical history. He hasn't been to an optometrist since he got those glasses, which he only got because the school noticed he was having trouble and he is long overdue." Hermione said gently when she saw Harry's discomfort.

Dr. Sampson nodded and began his examination of Harry's eyes. After several minutes of reading charts, looking through lenses to see which was better, and depth perception tests, Dr. Sampson asked them to wait a moment. He began filling in charts on his computer screen and, once done, printed off Harry's new prescription. Take this up front and pick out a new pair of glasses, and before you leave please make an appointment to see us again in about six months. I want to make sure your eyesight isn't damaged too badly by wearing those old glasses for so long. We'll do about three or four appointments at six month intervals to make sure your eyes are healthy and then you can go to annual checks like most patients.

Harry thanked the doctor and walked out with Hermione. He browsed the displays of glasses, trying on different styles to see how he liked them. About ten minutes later, he settled on a pair that was a thin black plastic with rectangular shaped lenses. After being promised that his new glasses would be ready in an hour, Harry took Hermione to lunch at a small café around the corner. It was small and nondescript, but the food was good and the company better so they decided it was rather nice all around.

When they finished eating they stopped to get Harry's new glasses and then flagged down a cab to begin their shopping. What had started as a pleasant day for Harry soon became torture only second to double potions as Hermione dragged him around for hours. Measurements, dressing rooms, constant decisions, and then suit fittings on top of everything else, Harry just couldn't understand why girls thought shopping was fun.

Hermione had insisted on teaching Harry the shrinking and unshrinking charms before they started really shopping so they could shrink all of their purchases to make carrying them easier. When Harry finally arrived back at the Leaky Cauldron he asked Tom to send dinner to his room, Tom arrived to see Harry trying to rub his sore feet and conjured him a hot foot bath. "Thanks Tom" Harry said with a sigh as the bartender closed the door. He barely had energy for a few bites before crawling into bed and passing out.


End file.
